Editorials|1 February 1961

Abstract

As man conquers disease caused directly by environmental factors (physical, chemical, and biologic), he turns his attention to diseases which are dependent largely or in part upon individual constitution, or genetic endowment. Of course, disease per se is not inherited, but the genes which comprise one's genetic endowment, or genotype, are inherited. Disease is a function of the somatic state, or phenotype, of an individual in a particular environment. The phenotype, in turn, is determined to a large extent by genotype. It is the purpose of the present review to discuss genotypic abnormalities which may be factors in disease, the